About 70% of India's salt comes from the state of Gujarat, where about 70,000 self-employed small-scale salt workers/producers often have to borrow money from exploitative lenders-cum-traders who fix a low price for the salt. However, this might be changing. A social enterprise initiative, called “Sabras,” now allows salt producers to borrow money at a much lower rate. To learn more about this, read the article[1] from the Guardian.

Can the poor be organized? A recent Brookings paper looks at the validity of collective actions in fighting poverty and finds that the poor, almost everywhere, demonstrate lower levels of organization and collective action, albeit binding constraints. The paper also cites the new World Bank Policy Research Report, “Localizing Development[2].” Read the paper[3] here.

How much do we really know about net capital flows? A new research paper by Sergio Schmukler and co-authors looks at the dynamics of gross capital flows and their implications for policymaking. Learn more about the finding of the paper here[4].

An finally, for all history enthusiasts, Brad DeLong has an interesting post where he says that we should care about our history because, among others, it makes a very good story and economic history is the real history. Find out more here[5].